Moral Conundrum -- The "Bartering Eggs For Coffee" WILL HAPPEN!

[carugoman]

Since I live just 17 miles south of the Alabama state line, here in NW Florida, we have cold spell,during the winter, that prevent most farmers from growing most types of citrus. However, I am able to have a small grove of Ponderosa and Meyer lemons that have been quite vigorous and productive for quite some time.

Dangerous Chicken,
I am not, as referred by you, as a "DOOD." I am a man. just a simple man. I have earned that right; I have all the medals and battle scars to prove it. I am, therefore, just a man, so, please refer to me as a man or call me Sir!

 

[Badgersburrow]

dangerouschicken,
Wow....beautiful pictures and what wonderful work....I am blown away...by the earth talents....I call that a Victory Garden....and I thought my garden was awesome( on a micro level maybe)....well I guess it is in its small one woman way....Very much to be proud of for sure...thanks for sharing
PS lots of great ideas came out of this thread and these post....Love it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SeaChick]

Thank you for taking the time to post the recipe for Samgyeopsal!

I am going to go to the Asian market today and get the red pepper paste... sounds so yummy!

Stacey

 

[dangerouschicken]

Sure! I love to spread the love.

carugoman, no disrespect intended. I was jokin' with you, Sir.

greyfields has an entire lemon grove on his farm. They grow great where he lives

I will post updated garden pics later. Some stuff is going crazy. I can't wait to be able to harvest more.

Thanks for the garden compliments, too, badgersburrow. It wasn't so hard. Here's what we did:

As soon as unfrozenly possible, DH rototilled the entire main gardening area about 6" to 8" deep. Then we raked the soil into long rows with lots of space in between.

Then we bought a bunch of cedar fence boards and pine spikes from Home Depot. Just drilled them together into big rectangles.

We placed the frames over the rows and hammered them into the ground. Then we shoveled dirt from the sides of the rows to help fill in. We also added this compost/soil/sand combo called "Irish Mix" to ammend the powdery, easily compacted soil.

The end result? Dark, loose soil that is rich with organic elements great for veggie growing. The elevated beds keep the soil from compacting, the way it does when you walk on a traditional non-raised garden (thus giving root crops more room to grow). You can put more veggies in a raised bed than in a row, making better use of your square footage (the reason we have room for so many varieties). Weeding is SUPER EASY as you have elimated most of the weeds already. You just walk along every few days and pull up about 6 little weeds per beds. And there is room to move between your crops, to move a wheel barrow or garden cart, to bring in supplies like worm poop or a watering can, what have you.

Planting all the seeds and starts took about a month (a few hours every few days). It was my break time from being a mom to 3 toddlers. I could go out there, tend to the poultry, plant crops, weed, water, and relax. It is so rewarding knowing that if your plants are successful, and you understand preservation techniques, you will be able to help feed your family throughout the winter months, as well.

Let me just say, I am very proud of this garden. I have never done ANY gardening on this scale before. I grew up around home gardens, but I never worked in them. I HATED GARDENING when I was growing up, because gardening meant weeding, and for a kid, weeding was BORING. I searched the net for a way to produce as many different crops as possible with the least amount of work. I found The Vegetable Gardener's Bible: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions by Edward C. Smith and it was EXACTLY what I needed. I can't recommend that book enough for anyone wanting to garden this way. Reading and researching about what you want and doing it, whether it is raising chickens or growing veggies, is accomplishable by anyone really, truly wanting to do it.

A quick tip: If you have no time to build a raised bed, just find some old fruit crates someone is willing to part with. I found a guy who was ripping out his apple orchard and got a bunch of apple crates from him for $2 a piece! These already had feet on them, so I just drilled holes in the bottom for drainage, put some rocks in the bottom, filled them with heavily ammended soil, and planted my melons in them! Easy container gardening and CHEAP!

Hope that helps for all of you interested in how to garden with raised beds. I will update you on the various harvests as they come on. Please tell me what you are growing and how your crops are doing, too. Sharing information is what makes us smarter people. This self-sufficiency thing (or moving more towards it) can be very doable with focus. And maybe we can do it together

 

[Badgersburrow]

dangerouschicken wrote:

Hope that helps for all of you interested in how to garden with raised beds. I will update you on the various harvests as they come on. Please tell me what you are growing and how your crops are doing, too. Sharing information is what makes us smarter people. This self-sufficiency thing (or moving more towards it) can be very doable with focus. And maybe we can do it together

I am soooooo with you!!!!!!!and everyone should try...I think we as a planet would be much better off for it....and think how healthy we all would be!!!!....Big Argo...would be out of a job...along with their evil bubbies...Monsanto....etc....
I love your pics...I am in AWE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS....I never use pesticides or such.....compost is the way to go(hence the name Badger)....I love turning my compost and the chicks love me to turn the compost....Worms galore....I am clearly but a baby...micro garden compared to yours...but I to shall grow


I am also a very crappy writer....so I hope you understand ...what I am sharing....Yes I will let you know how and what is growing....this is my first year in Missouri...and it has been interesting....lots of rain and cold...at first...and then the flea beetles...and aphids...but so far...potatoes are coming along...tomatoes, cucumber squash, basil, sunflowers, dill. thyme, rosemary, oregano, chile's, lots of peppers,(think I went a little nuts on the peppers) bells jalapenos, Serrano, habaneros etc....cilantro....strawberries, raspberries, blackberries...I plan on canning....but I am afraid of pressure cookers....I guess I am going to get over it!!!!I have bought hirloom seeds....and chokecherries and currants...apple and peach trees....OK I think I have rambled on enough...

keep the pics coming and all the great info....Got to go...and visit the free range backyard girls...they are all very busy eating bugs right now...Birds of Service and I thank them...with a noon visit​

 

[Badgersburrow]

carugoman,
I don't know you and I am new here...but
May I just say...Thank you for you service to our Country....
Thank you,
Red

 

[okiemommy]

I really like this thread! I have about a million bookmarks that I must now explore. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge

I am new to all of this, completely new, does anyone know a good resource to find out what kinds of fruit veggies etc grow well here in Oklahoma? Especially Heirloom varieties?

 

[dangerouschicken]

Badger, sounds like a great set of crops! Glad you bought some heirlooms. I love all the variety you can get, and it is good to see these supported and preserved.

We get flea beetles and aphids, too. I use this stuff and I absolutely love it. Works great to keep them away from everything, including roses. Do you have something you use? Your chickens, right?

As for the pressure canner.... do you have room in your freezer? Freezing veggies retains vitamins and flavor, so if you don't want to pressure can, I think that might be a good choice for you. We only waterbath can here. We do sauces, jams, fruits, pickles, and tomatoes with waterbath canning. We use the dehydrator for fruit, fruit leather, and some veggies (zucchini is very good dehydrated. You just throw the chips right into your soup and they plump back up). We freeze most everything else, including most herbs (some we dry). There are always things you have to eat in season, of course, like lettuce, radishes, and melons. But those are treats at the beginning and end of the summer season. I don't mind that at all

I took these this morning in dappled sunlight (the main garden has some poplar trees next to it). As you can see, we need to get out the weed eater for the outside perimeter:

Look how big the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions are now! The far beds in this picture are squash that are still small.

Beets and kohlrabi

A little dry looking before I watered, but corn is up!

Peas climbing the existing fence (I never build a trellis, just utilize the fences I already have)

Tiny grapes with yurt, melons, herbs, and a wheelbarrow in the background

Our gardens are far from perfect, but it is fun, and so far, productive. We have a good set of beds for the next few years, and no more rototilling. YAY!

I hope other people will post on this thread garden pics and other self-sufficiency tips

 

[carugoman]

Badgersburrow,
With a warmed heart and goose flesh, I appreciate the gratitude. Having people acknowledge the value of my service, gives me the pride to carry on when I have the too oft "Bad" day. Again thank you!

 

[bluebirdfarm]

this is kinda hard to see ,but we have raised beds 5 of them with a variety of tomatoes, peppers, gourds, beets , radishes , lettuces, herbs, squash,leeks,flowers, peas, beans and more !!!!it is just now going to grow here in west virginia1!1